Agreed.
Like many, when I got the first pair of subs I balanced our system like Christopher Walken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QVjuUgIeY

One dead giveaway that subs are not correctly set up is having to fiddle with them all the time. Steve mentioned this in his podcast. I never have to mess with my subs once I get them set up properly.

Are subwoofers bad for music?
 

+1

The only problem I see with most subwoofer integration is when they are not properly tuned and they present huge peaks at various frequencies or time delays that smear the sound.

When a sub woofer is properly “feathered” in, it will not be booming and it will fill in the lower frequencies that are otherwise missing. How can that be a bad thing? The goal is an in-phase, flat frequency response down to 20Hz. Granted it’s not as easy as simply plopping one down by your speaker, plugging it in and listening; it takes some effort.

Of course, those issues must be managed with all speakers placed in real rooms.

I love my subs. They were set by a pro though.
To make them sound perfect for music, they are way too loud for movies. I had them set to play perfect with music though.

I have 1,000+ SQ FT, so I needed more than SF O3 can put out for the room size. In a hotel room at Denver Rocky Mountain Audio Fest the O3s sound amazing and bass heavy in a small hotel room. If I move these to my office I wouldn't need a sub.

I'm on this wagon!

I personally can't even imagine the life without deep and clean bass. So, the subwoofer for my music system is a must!

Who's Steve Guttenberg?

I'm jumping in a little late but most speakers don't have a good response below 30 Hz. I have lots of organ music with soft 20 Hz and below notes. Also, there is important low frequency information in this range that enhances and enlarges the sound stage. I note that the Wilson WAMM Master Chronosonic is not complete without the accompanying MC Subsonic subs.

Many super expensive European super-speakers come with built in subs. I agree with Jim that you must be careful not to turn up your sub volume too much and if you are not interested in below 30 Hz material put your money in a better speaker.

I personally couldn't imagine owing any large Wilson Speaker without a Thor or a Subsonic sub. Properly integrated they have very little effect on the 30 Hz and above range but a tremendous effect on the below 25 Hz range. What little effect they have on above 30 Hz material I find very beneficial and pleasing to my ear.

Also, if your speaker has a lot of natural bass in the 30-50 range I wouldn't advise a sub. The large Wilsons are careful not to have exaggerated bass in this range in order to mesh with their large subs because some boost in this range is inevitable if you employ a sub the way Wilson recommends. Therefore you may find yourself in the strange situation with a large Wilson (without a sub) of it having less bass than say an Alexia or Sasha because paradoxically I personally believe the large Wilsons are meant to be more compatible with their larger subs than are their smaller speakers. Wilson strongly recommends no HP with their large subs like my Thor. I have tried it both ways and have found LP only(no HP) works by far the best which is precisely what Wilson recommends. Speaker placement greatly affects bass in the 30-50 Hz range. I have my Alexx pulled out from the rear wall significantly. I believe I could achieve about the same effect as with my Thor by re-positioning them closer to the rear wall. But no way can they match the Thor below 30 Hz.

I also believe when using a cross over, that sending the low frequencies exclusively to a subwoofer, allows to free the speakers from a lot of pressure allowing it to sound better on the other frequencies.